N1 Psychotherapy                         Aaron Balick
About Me: My Experience I am registered as an integrative psychotherapist by the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy. I have several years experience in the counselling and psychotherapy fields that have greatly influenced the way that I practice.  I have worked as a crisis counsellor, a counsellor in a time-limited counselling clinic, and as a psychotherapist for long term private clients.  Further, I have been a counsellor and adviser to young people in London's largest further education college as well as a manager of that college's counselling service. Currently, I divide my time between private clients, teaching, training, writing, and working in the media. My Training My formal training was comprehensive, resulting in a PhD from the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies at Essex University and an MSc in Integrative Psychotherapy through the Sherwood Institute of Nottingham (validated by Derby University).  While this formed the foundation of my training, I have also attended separate trainings in cognitive, gestalt, and humanistic therapies.  Other interests and pursuits have resulted in an MA from the University of London in European Thought.  This enables me to use a philosophical edge in my client work.  I am a founding and executive committee member of The Relational School UK which aims to promote relational psychoanalysis and psychotherapy in the United Kingdom. Through The Relational School I co-ordinate and present at national and international conferences on relational theory, and teach as a lecturer on gender and sexual identity through The Learning Community at The Relational School. Training Provision In addition to my own training, I am also a training provider and lecturer. I have run several groups on anxiety management and on maintaining relationships. I also provide psychotherapy and training seminars on a variety of subjects for independent training organisations and universities: some of these workshops include: + Cognitive therapy for integrative therapists + Theories of gender and sexual identity development + Theories of therapeutic change + Freud’s theories on sexuality + Psychotherapy skills and supervision for coaches + Bespoke trainings for a variety of organisations and projects Participation in the field of psychotherapy I am actively involved with the larger world of psychotherapy through work in training organisations, and the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). My work at the UKCP includes my membership on the Services Development Committee where I work with others to develop services for both UCKP members (psychotherapists and therapeutic counsellors) and providing services for the general public. I am a media spokesperson for the organisation which is a role that requires communicating important aspects of the world of psychotherapy to the public through various media outlets including radio, television, and online media. I am very much involved in participating in furthering the psychotherapy field through my writing. For several years I edited the reviews section for Self and Society; the journal of the association of humanistic psychology in Britain (AHPB).  I have also guest edited the UKCP’s trade magazine The Psychotherapist. Among other things I have written for the International Journal of Psychotherapy (the journal of the European Association of Psychotherapy), The Psychotherapist, The Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy and several other journals and magazines. I also have written chapters for two books including A Matter of Relational Ethics, published by Routledge in 2008, and British Lesbian Gay and Bisexual Psychologies, published by the Hayworth Press in 2007. The Media Since the early days of my work as a psychotherapist, I have been interested in bringing ideas of psychology and psychotherapy to the wider public. I strongly believe that the work we do as psychotherapists should not be limited to our individual work, professional conferences, and academic journals (even though I participate gladly in all of these things.) My interest in the media is part of the reason that I am a media spokesperson for the UKCP with the aim to bring psychotherapy closer to the general public. My work in the wider media is varied. I have used my therapy skills in a number of different popular ways, including my work as an agony uncle in several different guises. First on the BBC teens’ website; then, for several years as an agony uncle for AXM magazine; most recently and currently, as “Ask Aaron” on the CBBC children’s website. Through my work with the BBC, I have frequently appeared on live web-chats, live video-feeds, and also on programmes like Newsround and guest appearances on the CBBC channel. Additionally, I write articles for BBC online; I have appeared on Big Brother on the Couch using examples of housemates’ behaviour to explain and describe psychological concepts; and I am a regular expert guest on the Radio 1 programme “The Sunday Surgery with Kelly Osbourne” answering psychological and emotionally related material from the public. My Work The world of the media is a very different one from my work as a psychotherapist. I take both worlds seriously by considering them as separate jobs. As a psychotherapist I take the work I do with clients seriously, maintaining the high standards of practice, ethics, confidentiality, supervision, and continued professional development as stipulated by the UKCP. In the media, I use these same skills for consultation and public education in a way that does not compromise work with my private clients. Contacting Me Psychotherapy If you would be interested in contacting me for therapy, please check my availability. Once you have e-mailed me, we can sort out a time for a no-strings initial consultation to decide, between us, what is the best way forward. Consultation/Training If you would like to contact me regarding consultation or training, please email me at the address below. We will then organise a discussion about what your training or consultation needs are and take it from there. Media Enquiries If you would like to contact me regarding the media, please e-mail in the first instance and we can discuss how I may be able to help. therapy@n1psychotherapy.co.uk http://www.n1psychotherapy.co.uk/www.psychotherapy.org.ukhttp://www.therelationalschool.comhttp://www.psychotherapy.org.uk/http://www.ahpb.org.uk/http://www.psychotherapy.org.uk/media_spokeperson.htmlAvailability%20and%20Fees.htmlmailto:therapy@n1psychotherapy.co.ukshapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1shapeimage_1_link_2shapeimage_1_link_3shapeimage_1_link_4shapeimage_1_link_5shapeimage_1_link_6